West Ham Utd 1 Everton 1: AVRAM GRANT'S men are unbeaten in three league games and, as Scott Parker stated following this battling draw, will approach the visit on Saturday of Wolverhampton Wanderers – who are bottom – with credible confidence they can now avert the drop.
“We have a big game at the weekend and there are some positives to take. There are times when it will be a bit edgy when you are down the bottom of the league but we are confident we can get ourselves out of this,” the midfielder said. “We needed to win today but we have come off a good result against Fulham (3-1 on St Stephen’s Day), we have not lost a game and that’s important.”
Before this contest against David Moyes’s fellow strugglers, West Ham’s return had been a draw at Blackburn Rovers and the victory over Fulham, so Grant hoped his team would climb from the relegation zone by beating an Everton side that had defeated Manchester City in their previous outing.
The Israeli, unable to select 10 first-team regulars due to injury and suspension, also put Carlton Cole on the bench for a breather and witnessed a first half that ended in frustration due to Seamus Coleman’s soft equaliser.
Before kick-off Grant had spoken confidently of his team feeling no exhaustion due to the tonic derived from the win on Sunday and on the quarter-hour two moments suggested he was correct.
First came West Ham’s opener. Freddie Sears forced a corner that was lifted in from the left by Parker. When a James Tomkins header was repelled by Tim Howard, Radoslav Kovac hooked the ball towards goal where Tony Hibbert sliced an unwanted finish beyond his goalkeeper.
The second illustration of West Ham’s appetite came when Coleman zipped beyond their rearguard towards Green. But Matthew Upson raced back swiftly to thwart the threat.
Moyes had plumped for Tim Cahill as the lone striker in a 4-1-4-1 formation. Though Everton pressed West Ham, the threat was sporadic and the sense was Cahill would be better utilised in the less advanced position that allows him to shape play or drift forward.
“That is an argument,” Moyes said. “But I chose who I thought were the best players today.”
Everton’s equaliser arrived when Steven Pienaar rolled a ball forward for Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard moved left before passing to Cahill who saw Coleman ghosting towards the post. The left-back, Jonathan Spector, introduced for the injured Herita Ilunga, had been sucked inside and Coleman finished with aplomb at the far post, his second league goal for the club.
His strike gave Moyes a simpler half-time chat than Grant, who required only 11 minutes of the second half to decide Cole should be introduced for Frederic Piquionne. Cole was subsequently presented with a golden chance by Sears when his delivery from the right dropped into the forward’s path but he scuffed his shot.
Grant said: “I’m very pleased with the effort. To play two games in 48 hours is difficult.”
WEST HAM UTD:Green, Faubert, Tomkins, Upson, Ilunga (Spector 34), Sears, Parker, Kovac, Boa Morte, Obinna (Hines 85), Piquionne (Cole 56). Subs not used: Boffin, Reid, Barrera, Stanislas. Booked: Kovac.
EVERTON:Howard, Neville, Hibbert, Distin, Baines, Coleman, Rodwell (Yakubu 62), Arteta (Bilyaletdinov 90), Fellaini, Pienaar (Beckford 90), Cahill. Subs not used: Mucha, Saha, Duffy, Baxter.
Referee:Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).
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